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Khamzat Chimaev doesn’t believe kids should be learning MMA.
‘Borz’ will look to capture his first world title this Saturday night in Chicago when he challenges reigning and defending middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319.
While he’s gearing up to win gold inside the Octagon, Chimaev is looking to model the next generation of combat sports stars after recently opening up a gym for kids in his native Chechnya.
Interestingly, Chimaev did not fashion the new training center with an MMA cage. When asked why during Wednesday’s UFC 319 media day, ‘Borz’ posited that children should focus on one sport at a time rather than one that encompasses multiple disciplines.
Plus, kids punching each other in the face just sounds like a bad idea.
“I don’t think so this MMA can be good for the kids because we punching in the face, we broke each other, you know,” Chimaev said. “So grappling, kickboxing, boxing, all the sports in one sport. You know this is amazing sport but not for the kids. So I think it should be like at least 15 years to train some different sports. You know, boxing or judo or wrestling, grappling, there a lot of different sports for the young boys.”
Chimaev goes into UFC 319 with a perfect 14-0 record, eight of those wins coming under the UFC banner. His opponent, Dricus du Plessis, is also unbeaten inside the Octagon, winning nine straight fights — seven of which he opened as the underdog.
Saturday’s scrap in ‘Chi-Town’ will be no different as Chimaev is currently favored to leave with the middleweight title by a margin of 2-to-1.
